Publisher's Synopsis
The Overview Book has been published as part of the President's Annual Defense Budget for the past few years. This continues for FY 2014, but with modifications as proposed by congressional staff. This year to ensure compliance with Section 113, new chapters are added to include reports from each Military Department on their respective funding, military mission accomplishments, core functions, and force structure. Key initiatives incorporated in the FY 2014 Defense budget. Our budget is formulated based on aligning program priorities and resources based on the President's strategic guidance. This year's budget involves key themes to: achieve a deeper program alignment of our future force structure with resource availability; maintain a mission ready force; continue to emphasize efficiencies by being even better stewards of taxpayer dollars; and continue to take care of our people and their families. Implementing Defense Strategic Guidance. The FY 2014 budget request continues the force structure reductions made in the FY 2013 budget request. Following the President's National Security Strategy and the January 2012 revisions to that strategy, the Budget continues to make informed choices to achieve a modern, ready, and balanced force to meet the full range of potential military requirements. The restructured force will be balanced by technological advancements to deter and defeat aggression, to maintain flexibility, to ensure surge capability, and to sustain readiness levels to ensure effective mobilization. This budget will protect basic and applied research despite a significantly constrained fiscal environment in order to ensure our technological edge. The Administration emphasizes a strong national investment in research and development (R&D), especially science and technology (S&T); this is absolutely vital to our future competitive advantage. Maintain A Ready Force. Readiness priorities currently funded in the FY 2014 budget will preclude moving toward a hollow force. Still we face significant fiscal challenges especially for readiness if sequester continues, because reductions in operations and training, and indirectly for personnel and equipment extend across practically all categories of the defense budget. The readiness investments in this budget made in training technologies, force protection, command and control, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems sustains our standing as the most formidable military force in the world. However, the effects of sequestration will require the Department to cut roughly $41 billion from the annualized level of FY 2013 funding in the last six months of the fiscal year. Should this specter of sequestration hanging over FY 2013 and FY 2014 budget years become a long-term reality it will make it nearly impossible to sustain most of the readiness initiatives presented in this budget. People are Central. DoD places a high value on the sacrifices made by men and women in our armed forces serving their country. To ensure strong support for our military members and their families, the Department continues to provide a strong package of pay and benefits that is commensurate with the stress of military life. Yet, in order to build the force needed to defend the country under existing budget constraints, the Department recognizes the need to make tough choices during this economic crisis to achieve a balanced and responsible budget. Given the sharp growth in military compensation (e.g., medical costs have more than doubled since 2001 to nearly 10 percent of the defense budget) in recent years, the Department is taking steps in the FY 2014 budget request to slow the growth in military pay and health care costs. However, in recognition of the burdens placed on our military, these changes in the FY 2014 budget request are disproportionately small compared to those for other budget categories.
